Soap dish



Patented Nov. 25, 1952 SOAP DISH Frank D. Low, La Grange Park, Ill.,'assignor to Hotpoint Inc., a corporation of New York Application December 1, 1950, Serial No. 198,689

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved receptacle for soap and other cleaning materials or devices, and particularly to a ventilated receptacle which may be permanently secured within the backsplasher of a kitchen sink or the like.

Cover-provided soap receptacles are old in the art, but in the past have had generally inadequate provisions for admitting air in suificient quantities to dry the soap cake, wash cloth or the like, which may have been placed therein immediately after use. It is therefore a particular object of my invention to provide a covered container hereinafter for brevity referred to as a soap dishhaving a closure member which provides concealed passages of large area through which air may enter and water and drippings escape to the sink.

It is another object of my invention to provide a soap dish having a bottom-hinged cover, the inner wall of which has rib formations which define large area openings for the admission of air into the soap dish when the cover is closed and yet are effective to prevent small articles, thin slivers of soap and the like, from escaping through the openings.

It is a further object of the invention 'to provide a soap dish having a bottom-hinged cover provided with ribs which when the cover is open define a substantially horizontal support for the soap cake, the wall portions between said ribs sloping downwardly to convey drainage away from said cake, whereby the cover may serve as a convenient and efficient shelf on which to place the soap cake during use.

Other features and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichFig. 1 is a front elevation of a soap dish embodying my invention, th cover being closed and the soap dish installed in the backsplasher of a sink; Fig. 2 is aside sectional elevation taken on lines 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar side sectional elevation of the soap dish with the cover in open position; Fig. 4 is a plan section taken on lines 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on lines 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing a suitable hinge construction.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention has a box-like body I and a cover 2, either or both of which may advantageously be molded from polystyrene or other suitable plastic. The depth of the box is such as to take full advantage of the space within the backsplasher 3 of a kitchen sink orthe. like, the term backsplasher being com-- mon in the art to define the wall portion which extends upwardly behind the basin 4 of the sink. A front to rear dimension of about three inches is adaptable to most present day sinks, and the inside width should be of the order of five inches to accommodate a laundry size soap cake. A peripheral flange 5 provides a neat finishing wall about the margin of the opening provided in the backsplasher. The side walls 6 of the box may be pierced to provide slightly elongated openings which accommodate screws 1 to secure the box to conventional threaded devices 8 suitably secured to the inner backsplasher wall and extending appropriate1y therefrom. The bottom wall 9 of the body slopes suitably toward the open front, for drainage.

Cover 2 is hinged to the box at the bottom thereof; the hinge may advantageously be of the simple snapspring type shown in Rathbun U. S.

Patent No. 1,833,305 granted November 24, 1931. In such construction, hinge members I?) project from the bottom wall of the box adjacent the sides thereof, each hinge member providing relatively short, rounded, pivot pieces II which extend forwardly of an undercut central portion I2 within which seats the reentrant end of the hinge spring [4. The cover has female hinge elements 15 having concave forward wall portions for cooperation with the round nose pivots I i. As shown in Fig. 5, the rear of the cover hinge elementis also undercut to seat the opposite end of hinge spring It. Side wall portions l6 engage the sides of the outermost walls of hinge elements IE to stabilize the cover against twisting when it is in its open position, although it will be appreciated that the relatively wide spring clips I 4 contribute substantially to such stability because they are under tension when the cover is open and lie against the upper surfaces of the respective hinge elements. The spring clips have an inherent overthrow characteristic which causes the cover to move between its open and closed positions with slight pressure on its handle H. The side and top marginal walls of the cover seat rather snugly against the forward surface of the side and top flanges 5 of the box I, when in closed position. Short ribs I 8 extending from the cover project slightly into the box and engage the inner top Wall surface thereof to assist in establishing and maintaining the proper alignment of the cover and body portions when the cover is closed.

It will be noted from Fig. 4 that the cover side walls 23 are substantially triangular; when the cover is closed its front wall slopes forwardly away from the lowermost flange 5 leaving a relaassume an upright position in which the bottom walls 24 extend sufiiciently close to the forward edge 25 of the box to prevent escape of small ar ticles, thin soap cakes, etc., through the opening. It is obviously advantageous fromf the manufac turing aspect to form the ribs 23 integral with the cover and to have them imperf orate; buttheyi may be rodlike structures, suitably secured to the cover. In any event, and as appears in Fig; 4, the respective ribs are narrow and, therefore, will support-a soap cake S with maximum air circulation about the bottom and sides of the cake. Drippings from the cake, or from scouring pads of other cleaning devices which mayhavebeen placed within the soap dish immediately afteruse, will drain out through the opening 2| into the sink bowl. When the cover'is open, as in Fig. 3, the supporting edges of ribs 23 are approximately horizontal and in line with the supporting surfaces provided by the ribs 26 which extend upwardly from the sloping bottom wall 9.

There is thus formeda convenient shelf on which the soap cake may be placed during use. The spring hinge clip l4, by engaging theupper surfaces of the hinge members H and i5, limits the downward movement of the cover; andby properlyrelating the extent of projection of the hinge members ll Withthe length of the cover front wall and the angle at which the front wall projects from the backsplasher, I am able to maintain an adequate drip passage 21 which will accommodate the drainage from a soap cake or the like.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a soap dish or similar receptacle which provides ample drainage and air circulation about the soap cake when the receptacle is closed and in which the open cover offers a convenient supporting shelf with adequate drainage facilities. Whether open or closed, small articles such as articles of-jewelr-y or the like-may be placed in the box forsaf-e-keeping, or laid on the shelflikecover, while one is washing dishes-r performing other tasks at the sink.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit andscopeof the invention.

13 claim:

l. A receptacle for" soaps and the like, comprising a box having a front opening and a bottom wall draining toward said opening, a coverhingedly secured theretoat the bottom edge portion thereof, said cover having substantially-tri-. angular side walls which with the cover in closed: position seat snugly against the-sidewalls of the: box and extend the front cover wall angularly outwardly from the top of the box into spacedrelationship with the bottom edgethereof to provide a relatively wide bottom opening compre-.

hending a major portion of the box width. for

admission of 'airto the interior of thebox, a plu-.

4 rality of spaced, relatively narrow, ribs projecting upwardly from the bottom wall of the box to position the top edges thereof in a substantially horizontal plane, and a plurality of spaced ribs projecting inwardly from the front cover wall and extending substantially from the top to the bottom thereof, said ribs when the cover is opened presenting substantially horizontally disposed upper edge surfaces in approximate, alignment with the edge surfaces of said box wall ribs whereby said ribs respectively cooperate to provide a ventilated shelf on which a cake of soap or the like may be placed during use.

2 A receptacle for soaps and the like, comprising a vbox having a front opening and a cover hingedly secured thereto at the bottom edge porwardly. of and below the bottom edge of the box, and; a plurality of spaced, relativelynarrow, wall; structures integral with said front cover wall and projecting inwardly therefrom, said wall struc tures extending substantially from the toppto the bottom thereof and the upper edges thereofforming a structure for supporting a cake of; soap or the like above the cover wallwhen the.

cover is in said open-position.

3. A receptacle for soaps and the like, com

prising a box having afront opening and a bottom wall sloping downwardly toward the bottom mar-. gin of said opening, a cover hingedly securedthereto at the bottom edge portion thereof, said cover having substantially triangular side walls whichwith the cover in closed position seat snugly against the side walls of the box and extend the. front cover Wall angularly outwardly from. a snug engagement with the top of the box into spaced relationship with the bottomedge thereof to pro-. vide a relatively Wide bottom opening comprehending a major portion of the box width for; admission of air to theinterior of the boxwhen the cover; is closed, and a plurality of spaced, relatively narrow, ribs projecting inwardly from the front coverwall and extending substantially from the top to the bottomthereof to form sub-.

stantially vertical guardmembers eXtending into relatively closeproximity to th forward edge of the bottom Wall of the box when the cover is closed.

4, A- soap receptacle, comprising abox having a. front opening and a bottom wall sloping toward the; bottom front edge thereof, a plurality of up:- standi-ng; wall structures disposed in relatively closely; spaced relation onsaid bottom wall and" extending from front to rear thereof to form support, means for a cake of soapor the like, a. cover wall for the front opening of said box, hinge.

means for securing said cover wall to said box to.

permit the cover to be swung downwardly into. openposition, the axis of rotation of said hinge meansbeing disposed intermediate the respective bottom edges of said; cover wall and said box open ingto position the lower edge of said cover wall", when the same in closed position, forwardlyof the. bottom front edge of. said box to provide a space, extending substantially the length ofsaid" 5 6 box for the admission of air thereinto, and means UNITED STATES PATENTS for establishing the open position of said cover to b D permit the same to be used as a shelf for the i g' g fif May 55 support of said soap cake, said cover wall when 1684193 Noack Sept 1928 in said open position draining toward a drip open- 5 1:876742 g Sep 1932 s p s forwardly f said 2505537 Dantzler Apr. 1950 FRANK D. LOW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent: 

